The European Union has never moved forward but when it could prove it was
capable of solving, by sharing them, problems that could lead to conflict
among the country members: it was successively the case of coal, steel,
trade and currency. Today, the EU must understand that if it does not share
the management of immigration, it can disappear in a war of migrants.
There are today in Europe 35 million legal foreigners or 6% of the
population of the Union; one half is a national of another State of the
Union and the other half comes from the rest of Europe and the world. Their
number increases by 500,000 per year, legal or not. In total there are
proportionately more immigrants in Europe than in the United States, but
less are entering.
The free movement of persons within the Union, which has become the rule,
benefits to those foreigners who have acquired the right of residence. The
refusal of foreigners in some countries will result therefore, leads
already, not only to the refusal of foreigners, but also to the refusal of
the other Europeans, felt like strangers, or at least too lax in their
management of foreigners or in their naturalization policies.
And if everyone wants to keep its immigration policy, it will jeopardize the
free movement of persons and property and therefore the totality of the
community asset: the single market and single currency will not survive on
the long term without a common policy on immigration.
In theory, there is already a common policy on visas and family
reunification, there is a « blue card », which serves as residence permit for
highly qualified people, a European Refugee Fund, European Fund for
integration of third country nationals, and an agency, Frontex, helping some
countries of the EU with borders management and organizing joint flights for
the repatriation of illegal immigrants. But this so-called common policy is
illusory: it provides very long transition periods and countless
possibilities for exemption and is generally aligned on the lowest
legislative bidder.
We must go much further and unify the external borders control, the system
of granting long-term visas, the statutory conditions of stay, the
definition of asylum law, integration policies, regularization policies and
rules for the acquisition of nationality. The Union should establish quotas
for foreigners to accept, implement a policy of attracting talent, establish
partnerships with countries of origin and transit and Frontex should become
a real European border police force.
Ultimately, of course, there will arise what is feared above all by the
nationalists: a European passport independent from the passport of
every single country member of the EU.